Creating a Professional Portfolio

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Creating a Professional Portfolio

• Ms. Stewart
• Business Management 12

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What is a job skills, job-search, or career
portfolio?

• It is a job-hunting tool that you develop that
  gives employers a complete picture of who you are
  
• Your experience
• Your education
• Your accomplishments
• Your skill sets - and what you have the
  potential to become - much more than just a
  cover letter and resume can provide

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What can I use a Portfolio for?

• You can use your career portfolio in job
  interviews to showcase a point, to illustrate the
  depth of your skills and experience, or to use as
  a tool to get a second interview.

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Ok, Im sold! Now what??

• Your biggest time commitment will be the initial
  development of your portfolio, but once you've
  developed it, keeping it current and up-to-date
  should be fairly easy.
• Your two biggest decisions in developing your
  portfolio are determining
• 1) The format of the portfolio
• 2) The organization of the portfolio

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Organization

• Your portfolio must
• ? Be kept in a three-ring binder
• ? Have a table of contents
• ? A system to separate the various parts of
  the portfolio (tabs or dividers)
• ? All documents in plastic page protectors

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Next Step??

• Once the organization is complete, you then have
  to gather, write, copy, and assemble the material
  that goes in the portfolio.
• Heres the categories you will need in your
  portfolio

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Categories

• 1) Cover Page
• 2) Career Summary and Goals
• 3) Personal Mission Statement
• 4) Resume
• 5) Skills, Abilities and Marketable Qualities
• 6) List of Accomplishments
• 7) Samples of Work
• 8) Letters of Recommendation
• 9) Transcripts and Certificates
• 10) Awards/Recognitions

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Cover Page

• Think of this as the first impression! Your cover
  page should make a statement and say something
  about yourself.

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Career Summary and Goals

• A description of where you see yourself in two to
  five years. What are your goals for education,
  employment, life style, etc?

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Personal Mission Statement

• A description of the guiding principles that
  drive you and give you purpose.

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Resume

• A summary of your education, achievements, and
  work experience, using a chronological or
  functional format.

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Skills, Abilities and Marketable Qualities

• A detailed examination of your skills and
  experience. This section should include the name
  of the skill area the performance or behavior,
  knowledge, or personal traits that contribute to
  your success in that skill area your background
  and specific experiences that demonstrate your
  application of the skill.

13
List of Accomplishments

• A detailed listing that highlights the major
  accomplishments in your life to date.

14
Samples of Work

• A sampling of your best work, including reports,
  papers, studies, brochures, projects,
  presentations, etc. Besides print samples, you
  can also include CDs, videos, and other
  multimedia formats.

15
Letters of Recommendations

• These could include recommendations from teachers
  or past employers.
• Please allow some notice when requesting these
  from teachers, as they will need time to write
  them. Dont leave these to the last minute!

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Transcripts and Certificates

• This could include a transcript or report cards
  from school. Also, you may want to include
  certifications you hold (WHIMIS, First Aid, etc.)

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Awards/Recognitions

• A collection of any certificates of awards or
  recognitions you have received, these could be
  for school, any extra-curricular activities or
  acknowledgements from work.

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Reminder!

• When putting your portfolio together, make copies
  of your original documents and use the copies in
  your portfolio.
• This safe guards your originals and if you loose
  your portfolio or leave it at an interview by
  accident you still have your original documents!!